Dash

I have a funny story about my Evan. He's a big school kid these days and for a fund raiser this year they were doing a Fun-Run. The kids were to get people to sponser them x amount of money per lap and then they had 2 hours to run as many laps as they could. Well, Evan is in the afternoon class and so they missed the big event, but the teacher took them out for a while and let them do their own run. Evan made sure to wear comfortable clothes and his running shoes. It was so cute to see how excited and serious he was about it. When I picked him after class he informed me he won the race. He is a very competative kid so I just said it wasn't a race and I'm sure he did great. He had a little piece of paper saying he ran 18 laps. Way to go Evan! The next day as I was waiting for Evan to come out of class I had a couple of parents say they heard Evan had won the running contest. So I guess the kid was telling the truth. Come to find out he ran 2 more laps than anyone in his class and the kids thought it was a pretty big deal. I felt bad for trying to down play it. All his classmates were impressive with his mad running skills. As they get off the bus while we're waiting for the door to open they all yell HI to Evan. Not that I'm so proud of him for being popular or something, don't get me wrong. It's just fun to see the little guy in this new environment being his own little person. I sure think he's special and it's fun to see others think the same thing. That's my Boy!

Isn't he quite the man!

Back in July Matthew and I loaded up the moving truck and he headed to Oregon to start his new job while I headed to Boise for a family reunion. It was probably the last time I would ever make that 10 hour drive and I'll admit I'll kind of miss it. I enjoyed that drive, probably more because of the excitement of going "home" to see family. This was no exception. I met up with my little sister and her family. The next day we loaded up the van and headed up to Clayton, ID for the big Bushman Roundup. As always, it was 100% fun the whole time. The wild Thompson family was in charge and they had lots of great games and activities for the kids. The location was beautiful and the boys loved that we were camping. We had set up a tent in the field with Becky Ann and Barrett and Brett had his tent trailer. There was this big water slide which provided great entertainment and fun. My brothers were kind enough to take my boys down with them since they were fatherless at the time. I snagged some great videos. I'm such a mean mom to make my kids do that, but I really thought they might enjoy it. Guess I was wrong. It was so great to spend time with family and get some great squeezes from my Grandma. I sure missed having my parents there to join in on the fun. There is not much that is more entertaining than watching all the Bushman sisters get together and get all silly. I have such an awesome family and we had another awesome family reunion. See you all in 2 years!!!

Reading and Writing and Arithmatic

I can hardly believe that my tiny 2 lb. baby is a Kindergartener. It's such a huge milestone for him. They kept telling us in the beginning that it may take him a while to catch up he may always be a little bit slower, babies of this gestation have sight issues and hearing issues and often have learning disabilities. You can't look at my Evan and not think about how he truly was a miracle baby.You would never in a million years know that my little boy came into this world with a 50% chance of survival and even if he did survive would probably have complications his whole life. That little baby is now going to school and as sharp as a tack. It's been kind of hard letting him grow up, but I am so proud of him and his strong little spirit. He is doing great at school and loves every minute.He even does pretty good about remembering everything they did so he can tell me all about it. It's so crazy having a school kid but Evan loves it and I'm enjoying having some one-on-one time with Dallin. In fact, we're going to start a Mom-n-tot swim class in a couple of weeks that he is really excited about. I sure do love my silly little boys!

Here he is with his very first homework assignment. If you can't tell he created himself with a whole lot of style. It was 100% his work and I love it!

Of course Dallin could not be left out so he and his dad made a minature Dallin. Looks just like him!

The Happiest Place on Earth

How could I have taken so long to talk about the big trip to Disneyland. Thanks to Mike & Heidi who graciously shared their Hotel room with us we were able to spend 2 wonderful days at Disneyland and California Adventure. Evan was such a sport and went on all of the wild and crazy rides. I think Space Mountain was the only one that really freaked him out. I wish I would have bought the little picture they take because it was priceless. It was hot and super busy but totally worth it. Since we were there with Mike & Heidi we did a kid swap both nights so that we each got a night to run around like teenagers without the kids. It was absolutely wonderful. We had about as much fun as we could have, but I don't think we'll be back for at least 5 years. We wanted to celebrate Matthew finishing school and boy did we party!

So long Cali

Well here we go. I don't really think that you are all dying to know what we've been up to for the last 2 months, but I haven't kept record anywhere else so this is more for me so I apologize for the long ride. I'm going to take this one day at a time (not posting about everyday but posting once a day).

Since we weren't 100% sure of where our next step was going to be we spent a few weeks at the Nielsen homestead. The boys had a lot of fun playing with Uncle Josh and Shadow, swimming in the pool and jumping on the trampoline, eating all the delicious fruit and most importantly having Matthew all to ourselves and spending time with family. Thanks for putting up with us guys. We'll miss living so close.

She Lives

I doubt we even have any readers anymore since we've been M.I.A. for a while. We've had a difficult time getting our phone and internet up. I always have the worst luck with this stuff. But now we're up and running and I have a little catching up to do. Let's see . . . what have we been up to? Well not much really except - We attended my family reunion in Idaho, moved to Oregon into our first house with our very own yard, Matthew started working as a real life dentist and then injured himself so he was flat on his back for a few day and still hobbles around like an old man, had visits from my sister and Matthew's sister and had a whole lot of fun playing with the other Nielsens around here. I haven't been to great at documenting the last couple of weeks but I do have a few good ones I'll have to get up. I just wanted to get something up so everyone knows that we are still alive and loving our new life in the real world. I'll be back real soon with some updates. I have so much catching up to do on all of you so I look forward to all that, but it may take a while. I'm still working on getting moved in. It takes me a while since I keep stopping to play. I'll get there eventually.

Goodbye Marin City

I had to wait until we moved out of our apartment to tell this story so my mom didn't worry herself sick. Matthew and I have lived in the great Marin City the last two years and we often joked that we lived in the ghetto. Now I hope I don't offend anyone with this story but what can you do. Marin City came to be when the government built some affordable housing units in the area for low-income families. It was all up on the hill behind our complex and I'll be honest, there was a fair amount of hoodlums about at time. They were usually just walking through our complex on their way to here and there and although I never felt in danger we were cautious about going out after dark and such. There were other dental families who had moved out because of experiences they had, bu nothin that concerned me too much. We knew a couple families who lived there for 3 years without incident. I loved my apartment and I really like the area we lived in. We really enjoyed our time living in the Marin City, that is until the last night Matthew spent in that glorious place.

I had been packing and sorting all day and had acquired a large mound of trash. So after I got the boys in bed I wanted to clean things up and asked Matthew to take the trash out with me. He of course was dragging his feet and just wanted to do it in the morning, but I threw a fit and so we loaded up and headed down to the dumpster area. As we walked out our gate we both noticed some young punk walking around the end of the building about 50 m away. No big deal really because we see them a lot at night passing through. Our dumpsters like in most apartment complexes are tucked away in a cinder block area. So we walked in and I threw my bags in and was bossing Matthew around about where to put which bags where as I started walking out. I was startled by someone walking into the area and then even more when they stuck a gun in my face. He was just pointing at me and yelling for me to give him all my money and everything I had. I couldn't believe what was happening. I just kept saying I don't have anything, we're just taking out the trash, all I have is a bag of toothbrushes, you can have my toothbrushes. Matthew was kind of around the corner a bit from him and couldn't see the second kid walk in, but heard him join with the other guy in asking for everything we had. Obviously they didn't care what we were doing so Matthew just took out his wallet and gave it to him and they took off. I wasn't thinking to clearly I suppose. I see two boys with a gun mugging people and I just want lecture them about how this was not how they should behaving. In fact when they ran out I started to follow them because I didn't want them to have Matthew's wallet and I wanted to get it back. Matthew who was thinking a little more clearly and knew that some young kid with a gun shoving it in to people's faces is not rational and could easily do something very stupid whether he meant to or not. So he pulled me back in until they were gone. Once we got up to the apartment it all kind of sunk in and I started to freak out a bit as I called the cops. They of course have several units near by and responded right away. We told the police officer what happened and tried to describe the boys, but all we could say was a black kid in a big black hoodie with dark jeans and a gun. The second guy wasn't much different except with a different jacket. So I got in the car with the officer and he drove me down to the area that the kids hang out at night. That was almost as scary. They call it the 200 circle and it's just a parking lot by some of the low-income housing. There were about 8 black kids in black hoodies and dark jeans among the 30 or so kids there. We drove through the area real slow and I got to hear all their smart remarks about the white girl and the cop as I tried to pick the attackers. I of course couldn't pick out the kids and most likely they weren't there. So we went back home and finished our reports and cancelled all of our cards. I sure hope those 2 were happy with the $12 they got. Matthew was concerned because he was flying out the next morning for some job interviews in Boise and his drivers licesnse was out there with our home address on it. Everything was fine though and the last few days were just like all the others, but I'll be honest it sure left a bad taste in my mouth. Nobody likes to have a gun in their face. I guess I can still say that our time in Marin City was pretty good, but I'm sure glad we don't have to live there any longer.

The next step

I know I've been neglecting this sad little blog, but life has been a little bit hairy. It's been a couple of whirl-wind weeks and I have so much to catch up on; Alumni banquet, OKU, Graduation, Disneyland, getting mugged at gunpoint while taking out the trash, and moving out of our very last apartment. The most exciting right now is that we now know where the next step is going to take us. We're headed to the Beaver state, the land of giant teeth. More specifically, Matthew will be working at a practice in Hillsboro which is about a 1/2 hour from Portland and 1 1/2 hours from the coast. So if any of you need a place to stay on your way to the Tillamook factory feel free to call. I'm headed up there to find us a house to rent, but for now we're just relaxing by the pool at Matthew's parents house and filling our bellies full of plums and peaches. Stay tune for all the great stories to come and accompanying pictures. They are quite a treat.

So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen . . .

The end is drawing near and I find myself doing my same ol' goodbye routine. Matthew and I have moved 7 times in the last 5 1/2 years and you would think that maybe I would be really good at goodbye's by now, but in fact I think I hate them even more. Sometimes a fresh start can be refreshing. A chance to make some changes in your life, to try again to be that better person you know you can be. It's little comfort for all the old you have to leave behind. So I find myself ignoring it, pretending that it's not going to happen and avoiding situations where I might have to say that horrible word "goodbye". Goodbye to all you great friends and wonderful people that have been such a part of our lives these last 3 years, goodbye to playdays at our favorites parks and beaches, goodbye to the only home Evan can remember and to the place where Dallin began his life. We'll always have pictures and stories to help us remember this time, but goodbye's never come without regrets. Wishing we would have explored more, experienced more or spent more time with these people we're leaving. But as I tell Evan all the time whining is not going to change anything, it is what it is. So it's time to buck up and just deal with the inevitable. There will be many "lasts" these next couple of weeks but I'm so greatful for all the memories we've been able to make here. It's been fabulous and thank you all for making it so. Congratulations to everyone. I guess this is goodbye. We will miss you!!!

Happy Birthday to Me

First of all thanks to all those that made my day a special one. It was probably one of the best birthdays I've had in a while. Matthew said I needed to be sure and write it down so I couldn't complain next year that he didn't do anything for me. So here goes.

I started the day off sleeping in a little which is always exciting. The boys and I went to Kara B's for a delicious lunch and birthday cake. You're awesome Kara! Then Dallin decided he would take a nap which is getting rare these days so thank goodness. Matthew came home early and took Evan out shopping with him so I had some quiet time. He made sure I understood that he already had my present but that he was taking Evan out to get one from him. They came home about the same time Dallin woke up and threw me a little party with singing and presents. Matthew gave me a Sephora gift card and some cute purple flowers. Evan gave me new sunglasses and a pair of earrings. The impressive thing is that Evan picked those out himself. He knew exactly what he wanted to get me just from things I had said the last couple of days. Matthew said he was going to have to take Evan shopping with him for every gift giving holiday because Evan is better at it than him. Matthew made his taco's for dinner and then I met up with Katie S. and we got makeovers at Bare Esscentuals. It was so much fun and I loved the new look. Then it was time to meet up with all the 3rd year wives from the San Rafael and City wards and eat some grub at the Cheesecake Factory. Brittany and Katie made these cards that we all signed for eachother and we just had a alot of fun talking and taking a bazillion pictures. Somebody leaked to the waiters that it was my birthday so I got a song and dance from everyone. When I got home the boys were asleep and that was the end of my super fun birthday. Thanks again for the phone calls, cards and messages. You sure make a girl fill loved!

FAMILY PICTURES WITH LONDON

Last Weekend

This last weekend was kind of fun. Friday I packed the boys up and we headed to the East Bay to stay the night at Grandpa & Grandma Willy's house. We stopped off at a place in Oakland called Fairyland. It was pretty crowded because of some visiting preschools and daycares but the boys still had a great time running around. They have just a couple of rides that Evan enjoyed and Dallin took very seriously. Of course their favorite was the train ride. The idea of the whole park is pretty cute, but it could use a little more loving care. The boys didn't notice and ran until they couldn't anymore. We drove to the Sun Valley mall to do a little shopping and it was really nice until Dallin woke up and then it turned into the usual experience where I want to rip all my hair out, so we left. We made it out to G&G's and Evan immediately went out to find the chickens. We had a nice relaxing time and as soon as Austin & Jack showed up they just ran around and played. We got to sit out in the garden and feel our bellies full of fresh green peas. Dallin was stealing everybody's he loved them so much. I think we got our quota in for veggies this week.

Saturday we woke up and Heidi and I got ready for our big 10k. I am not a long distance runner and don't neccessarily enjoy running. I like the way I feel afterwards but I'm not crazy about it. But thanks to Heidi I decided to do this. It was out at Los Vaqueros and it was really pretty out there. Although it was called the Wildflower run and there weren't a lot of wildflowers left to enjoy. I thought I was going to die a couple of times. They a few hills, one of which was gigantic that I hadn't trained for at all so it kicked my batootee. I didn't want to walk but I didn't have much of a choice up the big hill. I did accomplish my goal of finishing under a hour, granted it was 1 min. and 10 seconds under but it felt good. I've already got the itch to do another and see if I can't do better. I got 7th in the womens and Heidi and I both got 3rd in our age groups so we left with medals. How fun is that! We jumped in the pool as soon as we got home and cooled down our muscles a bit. It was nice to lay out and enjoy the warmth of the sun. It would have been the perfect day if the apricots and plums would have been ripe and ready to eat, but we still have a month or so for that. I love summer!

You can't really see me but I'm the 3rd person on the hill and this was the second part of this enormous hill. I felt like I was running backwards half the time and had to walk a little bit.

This isn't the loveliest picture, but here I am crossing the finish line. Hooray!!!! Heidi had some friends there and they had their cameras so there might be a few more pictures to come.

Exploring New Hobbies

I've been attempting to hone my skills as a cake decorater. Not really enthusiastically, but I like to pretend that I can create. For my last big Enrichment Night at church we threw a Purse Party and just had a fun girly night with lots of pink. We wanted a purse cake from Baskin Robbins that was too expensive so I tried to creat my own purse cake. I was actually kind of proud of it since it was my first time working with fondent and the only thing I had time for was to buy a pack of already tinted fondent. So I had brown, tan, pink and black to work with and this is what I came up with. You really wanted to see it Becky Ann so here it is in all it's glory.

It looked a lot more realistic from far away, but for some reason I only took a few close-ups. I was happy to share it with Carolyn since it was her birthday the same day. I hope she enjoyed it!

Random

I've been a little behind. No excuse really. Just busy I guess. So I'm trying to play catch-up here.

We are so lucky to have gotten to know the Reynolds family so well. Evan and Dallin just love Dane and Aubrey to pieces. You should Dallin say Aubrey, it just melts your heart. We've had so much fun spending time with them camping, playing, eating, biking, rocking and chatting and so much more. Anj is a saint always willing to help and just a wealth of knowledge and advice that I so greatly appreciate. Mick keeps us laughing and Dane and Aubrey will sorely be missed when we must part our ways. We love you guys!!!!

We enjoyed some Night Clinic dinners together. Here's our Green Eggs & Ham/Cat in the HAT.

Kent Family Visit

This is old news but definitely noteworthy. My little sister and her family came to visit us and see the sites of San Francisco and Marin County. I tried to show them every inch of this crazy place and had a grand time doing it. We started off with a visit to Muir woods where we got the speedy version of the walking tour since the boys never stopped running. We drove down to Stinson beach and had a BBQ. It was getting pretty chilly so I stayed in the car with Dallin and Andrew while Becky Ann and Boyd took Evan and James down to run in the water. They didn't last too long.

The next day we were up early and over the bridge in time for free toll. I gave them quite the driving tour through the city. We drove by the Palace of Fine Arts, the Marina and down to the Wharf where we hopped on the cable cars and went for a ride. The boys always love this. Dallin was being so silly. He wanted to stand the whole time and kept telling everyone to "Hold Tight". There was this cute middle age couple sitting by and he kept grabbing their hands and putting them on the pole and demanding she "Hold Tight". It was pretty cute! We got a glimpse of downtown and ate a snack at Union Square. Then we hopped back on the trolley after getting our fill of beggars and bums and rode back up to the Wharf. We hung out on pier 39 and watched the sea lions and the boats. We got to see all the street performers as we walked back to the car. Becky Ann was one lady away from getting spooked by the famous "Bush Man". I warned Boyd since he was eating a bowl of Clam chowder. That always makes me laugh. For those who don't know. There's a man who sits on a crate and holds a bunch of branches with leaves in front of him. He waits until someone is not paying attention and roars at them while shaking his branches. He gets them every time. After loading the kids back in the van we continued our driving tour. We drove down Lombard, to Coit Tower, through China Town, Haight & Ashbury and stopped at Golden Gate park to let the boys play for a bit. Then it was time to meet up with Matthew and eat some good grub at Benihana's. James was quite captivated by the fancy chef flipping his knives everywhere. After filling our bellies we drove the scenic way home, through the Presidio and had some amazing views as always. I think we were all pretty wiped out when we got home. All the boys went to bed easily and we stayed up and chatted.

Saturday we took it pretty slow. We let the boys just play at home with the toys for the morning and then spent the afternoon at "Our Beach" as Evan likes to call it since we like to spend a lot of time there. Of course we both forgot our cameras and missed some awfully cute moments of our boys rolling in the sand. I think Boyd had the most fun building his sand creations. It was so much fun and the bathtubs were full of sand when we washed them off. I had such a great time playing hostess and spending time with my little sister. We sure loved having you here and wished you could have stayed longer. Thanks for coming!!!

The Kent Family in SF

What a Great Dad!

I just had a very, very enjoyable weekend and it is all because of my sweet hunk of a man. It was Father and Sons so Matthew got home a little early from school and took a few minutes to relax before loading up the boys and heading out for the night. I was all sorts of excited before they all got into the car, but once they were buckled in and telling me their good-byes it was a very bittersweet moment. It was the first night I would be spending away from Dallin. It was also the first night that I would be completely alone in the house since we've been married. But they were so excited to go camping with dad and their friends that they were happy to go. I could just see it in Dallin's face that he felt like such a big kid.



So of course I went and did a little shopping at the mall and then came home to watch a girlie flick and make myself a giant banana split. I went to bed kind of late and then the most glorious thing happened. I woke up completely on my own. There were no kids poking me in the eyes, no stools scraping across the kitchen floor to get into mischief and no husband flipping and flopping because he wakes up every hour. It was the most amazing feeling, and to top it off it was 8:30. When was the last time that I have been able to sleep that late? Wow! So I just layed in my bed and listened to that sweet sound of silence and yet feeling like something was definitely missing. I got up and puttered around for a bit before heading out to do a trial 10K. It was just so wonderful and so refreshing (the morning, not necessarily the run). I didn't have the underlying nagging that I needed to hurry home to my kids. All be it, I missed them terribly but it sure was nice. Oh, but it doesn't end there. I got home from my run and they were all home. I was surprised to find both boys had been bathed and dressed for the day and were so happy to see their mother. We spent a couple of hours together snuggling on the couch and just hanging out before I left with a Kelti and Katie to spend the rest of the day in the city. We were on the hunt for banquet dresses and we shopped till we dropped. It was so much fun and I learned a lot about shopping and fashion, thanks for the education you two. I actually found my dress at the very first store and for only $40. We stopped for a delcious dinner and refreshing shake and didn't make it home till 9:00. Both boys were sound asleep and the house wasn't too terribly messy. It was pretty close to a perfect day, at least as much as one could be spent away from the ones you love the dearest. So thank you Matthew for making it so. I love you to pieces!